Conversations with Death
by Hoshikage
Summary: Just a boy and his Gundam...


Disclaimer: All characters of the series Gundam Wing are owned by Sunrise. No infringement of any of the rights of the creators is intended. Story may not be distributed for profit.

**Conversations with Death**

_A Gundam Wing fanfic by Hoshikage_

"Well, that was fun."

Duo hopped down fron the Deathscythe Hell's cockpit after making that sarcastic observation to the air around him, heavy and hissing with the smell and noise of rain. He grimaced slightly as his feet squelched when he landed, and shook his dampening bangs from his face as he turned to survey the wreck of his Gundam.

Smoke still billowed pathetically from a gaping wound along the machine's side, which was the main reason for the unscheduled landing. If one could call it that. The rest of the hull was pockmarked with smaller scars, and one of the smaller rents in the metal had gotten a rather large section of tree stuck into it during the crash. Duo groaned as he surveyed the shaft of pine that protruded like a gigantic, if somewhat crooked and splintered, arrow from the Deathscythe Hell's shoulder joint. "You had to go and get yourself stuck by a tree, didn't you?" he accused the sprawled and silent Gundam. "You know how hard it it's gonna be to get all those pine needles out of your circuits?"

[I saved your hide, didn't I?]

Duo put his hands on his hips and glared straight at the Gundam's green eyes. "Now don't you go getting all snotty on me. I think I have a right to be disgruntled, seeing as we're stranded God-knows-where, in the pouring rain, without so much as a wrench to effect repairs on that mess you call a superstructure." He gestured impatiently at the trees. "Not to mention that the Bad Guys, with capital letters, are probably still out there looking for us."

[You're forgetting Wing.]

"Wing-_Zero,"_ Duo corrected halfheartedly as he slogged a few steps through the mud toward the Gundam's other side. "Totally different Gundam."

[Not really.]

"Yeah, yeah, we've had this argument before. I still say that thing's fruit-loops. Speaking of which, wish I had some right now. Man am I hungry."

[Sorry - I think you used up the last of the emergency rations the last time we got shot down in the middle of nowhere.]

Duo snorted. "What, you keeping count of these things? No, don't answer that. Anyway, you're not going anywhere, that's for sure."

[I'd guessed that.]

"Smartass. And people say I'm a pain." Duo climbed back up the Gundam, scrambling for a handhold briefly as his muddy shoes slipped on the metal surface. Tumbling back into the cockpit, he closed the hatch as much as he could to keep the rain out while still allowing a little bit of light to enter. "Don't suppose you've heard anything from the rest of the crew," he added without much hope.

There was a crackling sound, and the radio came to life, hissing slightly louder than the rain, with the occasional burst of static across the channel. [If they're on, they're not saying anything. Probably trying to keep from being detected. I'll let you know if any transmissions come through.]

Duo leaned back in the pilot's seat, folding his arms, and listened to the rain in silence for a moment. The Gundam made no comment either, only the indirect sound of rain drumming against its hull coming from the machine. Finally, Duo spoke up. "How come you care what happens to me, anyway? How come any of you care? You'd think it wouldn't matter who you get for a pilot. It's not like we're following orders anymore anyway."

The silence stretched on. Duo shrugged, having just decided that as usual he wasn't going to get an answer to questions the Gundam couldn't or wouldn't answer, when its "voice" responded, tickling faintly in the corner of his mind like a sigh. [It matters. We need pilots. And we need pilots who... match us. Complement us. We're nothing without them. Machines, no matter how advanced, don't win wars. No gun can pull its own trigger.]

"Yeah, but... why me, then? I mean, I was just some stowaway. Nobody special. Hiiro, yeah, he was groomed for this kind of thing all his life or something. What's blind luck matter to a Gundam?"

Deathscythe responded dryly, [Quite a bit. If it wasn't for "blind luck" I wouldn't have a tree in my shoulder right now.]

Duo rolled his eyes. "You know what I meant."

[Then, does it matter how we came to be together? You are my pilot. You're good at it. We match each other well. Is anything else really important?]

Duo slouched in his chair. "How come I got stuck with the philosopher?" he demanded, putting his feet up idly on the edge of the open hatch.

[If you think I'm bad you should hear Heavyarms and Altron going at it sometime. And kindly take your feet off the controls. You might need them not to be covered with mud at some point.]

Duo moved his feet. "Yes, Mom." He frowned. "So that complementing thing - is that why all you guys can talk to each other, but I can only hear you?"

[Pretty much.]

"That doesn't seem fair."

[I thought you didn't want Wing talking to you.]

Duo shuddered. "Good point."

[It's really not Wing's fault. That's what the Zero system was, in theory, supposed to do. After all, what good a weapon that can only be used by one person, hmm?]

Duo frowned. "Quatre flew Zero... hell, so did I..."

[Didn't work out very well, now, did it?]

Duo shrugged. "Huh. And here I thought only Hiiro could fly the thing 'cause he's just as nuts as the Gundam."

[Shows what you know.]

Duo stuck his tongue out at the screen, even though he knew the Deathscythe couldn't actually "see" the gesture. "Guess so," he responded sardonically. "But doesn't it ever bug you that you can't talk to anybody but me? I mean, don't you ever get the urge to tell Wufei he's being a pain in the ass?"

The Deathscythe responded with a crackling sensation of laughter. [I don't need to, you'll do it for me.]

Duo chuckled. "Okay, you've sort of got a point there." He yawned, slouching deeper in the seat as the adrenaline from the fight and the crash-landing completely drained away and left him exhausted. "Do me a favor, tell me you've still got some semblance of an early-warning system going."

[I suppose I could do that. And I assume you want me to keep an eye out while you sleep.]

"Well, if you wouldn't mind," Duo retorted. "Not all of us can be giant war machines, you know. Poor little humans like me need beauty rest."

[Whatever for, all you humans look alike anyway... all funny-looking.]

"Har har. In case you hadn't noticed, you guys were built humanoid for a reason," Duo responded, letting his eyes drift closed. "And don't answer that. I'll argue philosophy with you all you want when I'm awake."

Another quiet chuckling responded, a faintly tickling sensation before the Gundam drifted into silence, the only sound the reassuring pulse of the radar and the steady pattering of rain outside. Duo relaxed, letting the quiet, familiar sounds wash over him as he drifted off.

[Sleep well, Duo.]


End file.
